Originally Posted by
GhostRider62
Me too but I think I kept my mouth shut.
Sometimes when really fit, my heart skips beats (PVC) and it makes it appear my resting HR is low when taking it at the wrist feeling the pulse. If the poster was referring to HR during sleep, 39 bpm might is in the ballpark but resting in a chair? That is low for an older
OTOH, the stroke volume is maximized when doing huge volume at Z2 like backpackers in the mountain. So, the limit of performance isn't the cardiac output. My HR is also relatively low at threshold and my power is pretty high with a low HR. My legs just can't use the capacity.
RHR in the 30's is usually younger endurance athletes but who knows.
Many decades ago, I was with a company designing a cardiac stent and the fatigue limits of the stent were related to the average number of heart beats that we all get in out lifetime. So, a lower RHR might well be good mortality-wise.
It was the part about not being able to get above 145 on a hard, long climb that made me wonder.
I know we are all different, but I find my HR is quite dynamic in response to really hard efforts. For example yesterday I did a long simulated climb on my trainer, which had a steady 5-6% slope for the first 8 km and then kicked up to an average 10% over the last km, with a few ramps over 15%. I took it fairly steady on the shallow part and my HR stabilised at around 150 (all day level for me). But then I went full gas up the last km and went over the top at 190 (very close to max). My average HR for the last couple of mins was 184. So ignoring the absolute numbers, which I know vary widely across individuals, my delta was still around 40 bpm between comfortable Z2 and a sustained effort well above FTP. When I recovered over the top of the climb my HR quickly dropped back into Z2 as I was still reasonably fresh.
I don’t know much about you diesels to know what is a “normal” HR response to a sudden major effort. For me HR ramps up fairly quickly at VO2 max power level to within 5-10 beats of my max and after 5 mins I an bouncing off my limiter!